From our Garden, Annie’s Annuals will make yours come alive with color and fun!

The weather has been gorgeous, sunny and warm, which means it’s time to start dreaming, planning and planting! Our garden is full of all sorts of plants selected specifically for gardens in this climate, drought and deer resistant, many of them are well suited for poor soil and other growing issues local gardeners face. Annie’s Annuals has been a consistently excellent source and we have gone all out this year to bring a lot more of the plants that we’ve always carried and to add even more variety. Annie’s Annuals specializes in rare and unusual annual and perennial plants, including cottage garden heirlooms and hard to find California native wildflowers… like these two beauties: both are California poppies, but have you ever seen colors like these!? They are Rose Chiffon and Apricot Chiffon. They are not only gorgeous but like all native California poppies, they don’t mind drought and deer don’t really find them tasty enough to bother with so they are resistant to any grazing Bambi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there’s the beautiful Geum, it’s one of the toughest, heat resistant, long lived, long blooming perennial. Annie says this is a single plant pictured on the left, quite large and the deepest sunset red. It blooms like crazy late Spring thru Fall, even in Winter in temperate climates (with dead-heading). The brightest red, the two and a half inch blooms look like ruffly roses and dance in the breeze on well-branched two to three foot tall stems, above sturdy, lush green, compact mounds. If you have never tried Geums before, they’re the best perennials you’ll ever grow! Compost yearly and cut back in Winter. Semi-deciduous to deciduous in colder climates. The blooms can grow to three inches high and wide.

Here’s a really fun reason for you to grow your own artichokes! These gorgeous “weeds” are so showy and they are super easy to grow! Not only is ‘Opera’ drought tolerant, and deer resistant but, again; easy to grow since they are just giant thistles after all! They are tasty and as a garden element they are highly architectural. This much sought after new variety bears stand out ornamental violet-red heads, and grows blooms three to four inches tall and across. The primary heads are four to five inches across followed by smaller secondary heads. Opera is not fussy about soil, but you will achieve best performance with compost added.

And since succulents are a real favorite, we carry some of these lovely plants.

No gardener is ever nonchalant at first sight of this brilliantly chalky white CA native succulent. Forming a gorgeous, almost other wordly blue-white rosette to eighteen across, it does need good drainage – think rock garden or sloped situation. Easy and stunning in a container! Arching, red stems in Summer hold yellow, urn shaped blooms. Best appearance with only monthly water in Summer. Hardy to 15 degrees F. Deer resistant.

This  Cotyledon have leaves like great big flapjacks!  White, chalky leaves, some with an attractive red edge are the main feature – the 1′ plus stems of downward facing orange tubular flowers in late Spring are a very nice bonus. Eventually they shrub forming to 3′ high and wide. This Cotyledon from South Africa is drought tolerant and ever grey.

 

 

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